Officer Steve Dunham found the boy after responding to a call the boy was outside of a drugstore trying to sell the bear. Seeing the child "broke my heart,” Dunham said. “He told me he was trying to sell his stuffed animal to get money for food because he hadn't eaten in several days.”

Dunham whisked the boy away to a Subway for some food before they returned to the police station. An investigation revealed the boy and his four brothers were living in utter filth: the home was filled with cat urine, human urine, liquor and trash.

The parents have been charged with child endangering, while the kids are now staying with relatives.

Franklin Police Chief Russ Whitman said, "(Police) treated them like their own kids, and that's exactly what law enforcement does in situations like this. How would we want someone to treat our kids? Hopefully, these officers’ actions change these kids’ lives and maybe change the lives of the parents to become better parents.”

Dunham, meanwhile, says he was only doing his job. “(We) would like to go home at the end of the day feeling like (we’ve) done something positive and, you know, had some kind of positive impact," he said.